Slice House | Greenwich - Connecticut | 2020

Architects: Joeb Moore & Partners
General Contractor: Tallman Building Co. Inc.
Client: Withheld
Photographers: David Sundberg ESTO

SLICE house is located in southwestern Connecticut on a forested suburban property within 10 minutes of a commuter rail train station and the I-95 corridor. The site features prominent exposed glacial till and bedrock typical of the region. The new building is sited to fit between existing rock outcroppings and key legacy trees on the property, overlapping with the footprint of a former structure in order to minimize excavation and disturbance.

A T-shaped part creates three distinct outdoor spaces and environments: an arrival court to the north, a pool and entertaining terrace bermed between the house and knoll at the east, and a stepped dining terrace perched above a rocky slope to the west. The structure negotiates more than 50 vertical feet of topographic change on the site: the entry and formal spaces sit on the land, the garage and support spaces to the east are nestled within the land and rock, and the informal living spaces to the west cantilever above the land, looking to a reservoir beyond.

The building itself is organized into three wings: formal living, informal living and support spaces, anchored to the site by a masonry wall. The double-height void space between these three wings utilizes light and reflection to connect vertically between each level of the house as well as laterally to each wing and to the landscape beyond. Vertical circulation within this void reinforces the transitory/liminal quality of this space. Apertures function as gaps or slices that reinforce the transition between the three wings of the house.

The varying widths of the windows reinforce key views, but also create a facade pattern that modulates both light and shadow and correlates to programmatic function. Windows and openings are lined with reflective metal panels that bounce light and landscape views into the interior spaces, indexing the surrounding temporal environment on the building facade and within the home itself.